Cephalosporin esterase is a general term for an enzyme which is capable of hydrolyzing the 3' acetyl group of cephalosporins of the general structure I to its corresponding desacetyl compound II. ##STR1## Chemical deacetylation of cephalosporins is performed under extreme pH conditions which generally tend to give side products in addition to the desired desacetyl compound. Enzymatic deacetylation has been described in a number of journal articles and patents. The cephalosporin C esterase activity of the pink yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides was first reported by Smith et al. at Glaxo Laboratories U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,632 and was used in U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,454. However, whole cells or crude extracts were used for the conversion and the enzyme was not purified and characterized.
Heretofore, isolated cephalosporin esterase from Rhodosporidium toruloides and nucleic acids encoding the esterase has been unknown.